Episode 919: All-Star Emails
Date July 6, 2016 Summary Ben and Sam banter about their All-Star selection philosophies, then answer listener emails about the DH, the trade deadline, hidden knuckleball benefits, the virtues of tanking, and more. Topics * Episode 910 follow-up: Jose Canseco's brother * CBA Negotiations * Making the trade deadline more interesting * Knuckleball pitchers against top hitters * 'Unintentional' intentional walks * Virtues of tanking Intro Ray Charles, "Together Again" Outro Franz Ferdinand, "Fade Together" Banter * After six episodes with Rany Jazayerli and Joe Sheehan, Sam is joining Ben again on the podcast. * Ryan Webb was designated for assignment. * Selecting and defining All-Stars: relief pitchers, aging stars, and less famous players with strong first halves. Email Questions * Aaron: "Am I crazy to think one factor in the Cubs insistence in holding onto Kyle Schwarber is a belief that the National League could add a DH following the completion of the new CBA later this year?" * Brett: "Jeff Marek of SportsNet has discussed his idea for improving the NHL trade deadline a couple of times. He wishes the NHL would set it up for two days like they do the draft. He wants a stadium with every team having a table on a main floor, with phones and mandating someone sit there. He thinks it would make for great TV viewing among the diehards and would lead to more trades. His basis is just being in proximity creates trades. Thinking of the draft and GM meetings. Would you like to see two days of the MLB GMs put together for the trade deadline in such a manner? Would it help the trade deadline be a more enjoyable fan experience?" * Max: "Can we please fix the phrase 'unintentional, intentional walk'?" * Peter: "In the world of sports today it is impossible not to talk about tanking or rebuilding, bottoming out, etc, but there is one aspect that I don't recall hearing mentioned much. People tend to either chastise teams for rigging the system through tanking or shrug and admit that it's a good strategy. My question is this: should we take more time to appreciate the process for the great teams it brings us? As a fan of baseball I appreciate watching the greatness of a team like the Cubs." Play Index * Sam uses the Play Index to investigate if knuckleball pitchers are 'All-Star killers'. * From 2001-05, the 25 best hitters in the American League performed notably worse against Tim Wakefield. There were drops in OBP and SLG for these players when hitting against Wakefield relative to their league averages. Notes * Several listeners wrote in that teams treated Jose Canseco's brother, Ozzie, similarly to how Ben and Sam described 'Mitch Trout' in Episode 910. * Sam says he gets less satisfaction out of a team's success knowing that they tanked to get to their current position. Links * Effectively Wild Episode 919: All-Star Emails * But What If It Did Count? by Sam Millar, Rian Watt, and Meg Rowley Category:Episodes Category:Email Episodes